Life off the grid in the SW Texas desert. An experiment in sustainable living. NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG POST: temp at 8PM,high temp,low temp,rainfall,wind conditions(CalmBreezyWindyGusty). Live streaming video at http://ustre.am/TM8N

Trying not to overstate the case here, but there's something coming out of Washington that's big and very bad. President Obama has promised to veto this bill if it gets to his desk in its present form, but whenever I hear him say something like that the faint "beep" "beep" of the backup alarm just gets louder and louder.

When Forbes and the ACLU are on the same side, you know the issue is fundamental. A small provision in the bill would apparently authorize the U S military to act as a police force in this country, and would allow the detention of anyone without trial until they die. People could be "disappeared", as in Argentina and Chile. This has passed through both houses of Congress with no public debate, and the national media is studiously ignoring it. This is the strangest and most ominous thing I've seen in a very long time. You can buy all the guns and ammo you want, but if the U S military is told to go and get you, you're going to go, one way or another. Senators I could have sworn would never endorse something like this have signed on. This is very troubling, to say the least.